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Images that defined 2013

A selection of the most striking photographs from this year

Santa Claus feeds the sharks during a visit to the Manly SEA LIFE Sanctuary in Sydney, Australia on December 18, 2013. Photograph: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

Accused 'Boston Bomber' Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is shown before his arrest with a sniper's laser sight trained on his head as he surrenders to authorities on April 19, 2013 after a massive manhunt in this handout photo provided courtesy of Massachusetts State Police Sergeant Sean Murphy and Boston Magazine. Photograph: Reuters

Late former taoiseach Dr Garret FitzGerald in November 1985 signing the Anglo-Irish Agreement with late former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, who died in April 2013. Photograph: Matt Kavanagh/The Irish Times

Women arrive for treatment at a mobile clinic, provided by the Afghan Family Guidance Association, in Kabul. Photograph: Mohammad Ismail/Reuters

Members of the media try to protect themselves from dust blown up by a British forces transport helicopter as it lands at the forward operating base Sterga II in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Photograph: Lefteris Pitarakis - Pool/Getty Images

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir wipes his face during a news conference in Juba after an alleged coup. Photograph: Goran Tomasevic/Reuters

North Korean girls carry firewood on the banks of Yalu River, some 100km (62 miles) from the North Korean town of Sinuiju, opposite the Chinese border city of Dandong, in winter. Photograph: Jacky Chen/Reuters

Jang Song-thaek, with his hands tied, is dragged into court by uniformed personnel on December 12th. An uncle of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, he was reported executed very soon afterwards. Photograph: Yonhap/Reuters

A man walks past debris from damaged buildings covered with snow in a besieged area in Homs, Syria, amid the ongoin civil war. Photograph: Yazan Homsy/Reuters

French troops stand at the airport runway in Bangui, Central African Republic, after sectarian strife erupted in the country. Photograph: Emmanuel Braun/Reuters

A bride poses for a photograph on Westminster Bridge as fog clears in central London in December 2013. Photograph: Olivia Harris/Reuters

Protesters rest in Kiev's City Hall after it had been turned into an organisational hub for pro-EU protesters who occupied the building in protest against policies of President Victor Yanukovych. Photograph: Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters

A Thai Buddhist monk puts on a gas mask as riot police use water cannon and tear gas while anti-government protesters attempt to remove barricades outside Government House in Bangkok. Photograph: Dylan Martinez/Reuters

An anti-government protester throws back a teargas canister during clashes with police near Government House in Bangkok. Photograph: Damir Sagolj/Reuters

The coffin holding the remains of Nelson Mandela is carried by military personnel at the end of his funeral service in his ancestral village of Qunu, South Africa. Photograph: Reuters

Forlorn: a local boy, Anda, looks out from his hut's window at the burial ground of late former South African president Nelson Mandela ahead of his funeral in Qunu. Photograph: Yannis Behrakis/Reuters

A woman folds her hands in prayer next to candles standing outside the house where Nelson Mandela died in Johannesburg. Photograph: Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters

Former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks arrives for her phone-hacking trial at the Old Bailey. Photograph: Bethany Clarke/Getty Images

Protesters chained together block the entrance of an immigrant detention center in Elizabeth, New Jersey, US. Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images

GOAL's James Kelly surveys the devastation on the Island of Leyte, Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan struck the town of Tacloban. Photograph: Julien Behal/Maxwells

Seminal rock'n'roller Lou Reed, pictured in New York in 2011. Reed, a musician known for his work with the Velvet Underground, died on October 27th, 2013. He was 71. Photograph: Chad Batka/New York Times